Pole-protective means.



S. M. MULNIX L H. 0. ADAMS.

POLE PROTECTIVE MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I. IQIE.

1,244, 1 1 9. Patented oet. 23, 1917.

I l Even/Zo 71s.'

m, f@ @www l lifs UNITEI) STATES PATENT OFFICE.

scnarvm u. MULNIx, or LENA, AND niLiNp'o. ADAMS, or marcar, ILLINOIS.

POLE-PROTECTIVE MEANS.

Speeiileation of Letters Patent.

Patented oet. 23, 1917.

Application led December 1, 1916. SerialNo. 134,448.

certain new and useful Improvements in Pole-Protective Means, of which the following` is a specification.

his invention relates to protective means for poles adapted to be applied especially to telephone, tele ph and railway poles for the purpose o protecting the embedded and adjacent upper portion of a pole against decay and exposure' to the destroying eiects of insects, fire and other `influences, and to strengthen the' pole.

The prima'ry ob]ect of our invention is `to provide a protective means of the character described, improved -in construction and embodying novel features enabling the protective means to be manufactured and applied to desired in manner.

In furtherance of this general object, we have provided a pole protective means in the form of` a segmental sleeve adapted to a most practical and eicient embrace a pole and to be interlockinglycom.

nected together by elongated keys slid lengthwise on the sleeve sections so that the sleeve, ture, will, when driven into the ground, snugly embrace the pole above and below the ground forming an effectual guard against deterioration and injury and materially strengthen the le, therebyV insuring greater longevity-an usefulness thereof.

Another feature is in the provision of keys of di'erent widths and longitudinally tapered keys so that when poles of diiferent sizes are to be covered with my improved protective means, keys of proper connect the sectlons of the sleeve, and there- Iby provide a sleeve that will snugly iit the particular pole.

A further feature is to assemble the se mental sleeve above the ground on a po e and .then drive the sleeve as a unitary structure into the und through the intermediary of a driving cap of novel' construction. This cap receives the impact of the driving tool and is removed when the sleeve has been driven to operative position.

Our invention also contemplates the propoles and to serve the ends a substantially integral strucselected and employed to vision of a protective cap to be applied to the top of the sleeve to clamp the same rigidly to the pole and to effectually protect the top of the sleeve against the entrance of rain. I

Referring to the drawings,-

Figure 1 is a view of a pole Set in the ground and equipped with a protective melans embodying our im rovements;

1gs on the line 2--2 and 3-3, respectively, of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 being somewhat enlarged;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a tapered key;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through our improvements showing the driving cap applied;

Fig. 6 is a. sectional view line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 Shows in pers ective the ends of two keys of different wi ths.

The pole protective means consists chiefly of a segmental sleeve, the sections of which are interlockingly joined and secured together by means of longitudinal keys. The sleeve sections are preferably formed of Sheet metal corrugated longitudinally so that comparatively small gage material may be employed that will have ample strength to reinforce a pole and withstand even excessive lateral strains. In the present illustration of our invention, we have shown Ya sleeve comprising two sections 8 and 9 of general semi-circular Shape in cross section and corrugated longitudinally, as shown, although a greater number of these sections might be employed, dependent on the size of the pole and sections. The sections are sharpened at their lower ends as at 11, so that theyy may be more easily driven into the ound. v

E ongated keys or coupling members are employed to unite the `sections and thereby form, as it were, an integral sleeve. It is desired to attachthese keys when the sections have been applied to the pole above the ground and to slide the keys lon tudinally upon and in engagement with t e longitudinal edges of a joinin sections to interlockthe same and close t `e ga or opening therebetween. A simple an practical form of key consists of an elongated strip of sheet metal 12 having its lon 'tudinal edges 13 bent toward one side to orm opposed channels. The longitudinal edges 14 of the sections 48 and 9 are also bent ont wardly, as clearly shown in Fig. 3,A and are taken on the Y adapted to be engaged in channels of the key. Thus, by entering the adjoining edges 14:vv of the sections into the channels of a key it may be slid lengthwise upon said edges to thereby lock the sections together and provide a continuous perforate casing about the pole. Because of the corrugated construction of the sleeve7 it will be capable of considerable expansion when driven onto a pole, and thus the joints or couplings will not be unduly strained. However, in order to meet the requirements of various sized poies, keys of different widths, as shown in Fig. T, are provided, and it will be evident that with this provision and also with sleeve sections of different widths a protective sleeve may be formed of proper size for fitting poles of practically any size. It will be here noted that the segmental sleeve is not merely composed of a plurality of interlocking sections of similar construction but con-v essentially of corrugated sections interlockingly joined by keys. In some cases it is found that the base of a pole flares to some extent, and to meet this condition we have provided keys 15 tapered longitudinally, as shown in Fig. 4:. Such a key will allow the sleeve to properly accommodate a pole, the base of which is of somewhat greater diameter than its portion immediately above the ground.

A segmental sleeve applied to a set -pole above the ground is now ready to be driven lengthwise of the pole into the ground to an operative position for the purpose of ro testing the portion of the pole 'embet ded in the ground and that portion immediately above the ground. For this purpose a driving cap designated generally by reference character 16 is employed. This cap is formed preferably of malleable iron of suitableproportions to withstand the blows of a Sledge or tool employed for driving the sleeve into the ground. The cap is preferably. formed in two sections, 'each of which is shaped to provide a semi-circular head 17 resting upon the top edge of the sleeve and having a portion 18 extending beneath such edge and engaging the inner side of the sleeve. The cap is also formed with a semicircular portion 19 engaging the periphery of the sleeve a substantial distance, as shown clearly in Fig. 5. Bolts 21 or other suitable means may be employed to clamp the sections` of the driving head together to constitute the same a practically rigid structure and also to secure the cap rigidly to the segmental sleeve. It will be noted that the cap rests on the top edge of the segmental sleeve and is shaped to engage the inner and outer sides thereof, this peculiar shape enabling the cap to be properly secured tothe sleeve and also serving to prevent buckling or flaring of the upper end of the sleeve when the saine is forcibly driven into the ground.

The driving blows of the tool are applied to the top of the head portions 17 When the sleeve has been driven into loperative position through the use of the driving cap just described, this cap is removed and a protective cap is applied to the top of the sleeve. It is desired that this protective cap shall embrace the periphery of the sleeve and cover the top or open end thereof, that is, thel portion between the periphery of the pole and that of the sleeve, and also that the cap shall serve as a means to rigidly .clamp the upper end of the sleeve sections together and to thepole. The protective cap shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is in the form of semi-circular metallic sections 22 and 23 shaped to -lit the periphery of the upper end of the sleeve and to extend over the top of the sleeve and engage the periphery of the pole, thus closing the openings formed by the corrugations in the sleeve. At the ends of these cap sections their top portions 24 overlap and their side portions are bent outwardly to form flanges 25 through which are passed bolts 26 for the purposeof drawing the sections together. It will be manifest that when the protective cap sections 22 and 23 are drawn tightly together by means of the bolts 26 these sections will securely bind the sleeve sections 8 and 9 and keys 12 vtogether and will also clamp them to the post. Thus by means of a simple cap of this nature the protective sleeve is held together and clamped to the post in a very substantial manner and at the same time the upper end of the sleeve is eii'ectually sealed, and if desired, tar or pitch or suitable sealing substance may be poured around the top of the cap to fill any crevices between the same and the pole.

It has been found that a pole protective means constructed as above described serves the purposes for which -it is designed in a very satisfactory and effective manner and that because of the novel construction of the several parts the same may be manufactured of small gage sheet metal at a comparatively low cost, and the manner in which the sleeve is applied to a pole, driven' into operative position and finally protected and clamped together atl its top by the protecinsures practicability and ready adaptation of the protective means to poles of` various sizes.

While we have illustrated and described one mechanical embodiment of our improvements, it should be understood that various changes and modifications might be made in details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A pole protective means comprising a plurality of transversely curved longituditheir opposedvedges formed to provide projecting locking devices, and elongated relatively narrow tapered lockng means shaped to coperate with said devices to? securely vunite said sections together` Athroughout theirlength whereby to produceua tapered cylindrical protector adapted to surround and snugly embrace a pole.

3. A pole protective means comprising a plurality of transversely curved longtudii nally corrugated sheet metal sections, means for securely uniting said sections ltogether throughout their length to surround a pole,

and a sectional cap adapted to fit over and i embrace ,the-upper end of saidprotector and coverthespace between a pole and the surrounding protector. f a

c SCI-IRIVER M. MULNIX.

` ROLLIN O. ADAMS. 

